Posts Tagged With: Contemporary

Book Review: His Leading Man by Ashlyn Kane

Reviewed by Ami

Title: His Leading Man
Author: Ashlyn Kane
Series: Dreamspun Desires
Heroes: Drew & Steve
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 222 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 5, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon 
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: He wrote a comedy. Fate directed a romance.

Drew Beaumont is bored of the same old roles: action hero, supervillain, romantic lead. He’s not going to let a fresh gay buddy comedy languish just because they can’t find him the right costar. No, Drew bats his eyelashes and convinces everyone that the movie’s writer should play Drew’s not-so-straight man.

Aspiring writer Steve Sopol has never had a screenplay optioned. Now one of Hollywood’s hottest properties wants to be in a movie Steve hasn’t finished writing—and he wants Steve as his costar. Turns out the chemistry between them is undeniable—on and offscreen.

Drew swore off dating in the biz, but Steve is the whole package: sharp, funny, humble, and cute. For Steve, though, giving in to the movie magic means the end of the privacy he cherishes. Will the credits roll before their ride into the sunset?  Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Out, Proud, and Prejudiced by Megan Reddaway

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Out, Proud, and Prejudiced
Author: Megan Reddaway
Heroes: Bennet & Darius
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 268 pages
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: June 4, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: One’s proud, one’s prejudiced, and they can’t stand each other.

Quick-tempered Bennet Rourke dislikes Darius Lanniker on sight. Darius may be a hotshot city lawyer, but that doesn’t give him the right to sneer at Bennet, his friends, and their college. It doesn’t help that Bennet’s restaurant job has him waiting at Darius’s table. So when his tutor recommends him for an internship at Darius’s Pemberley estate, Bennet isn’t sure he wants it. He’s also not sure he can afford to turn it down.

Darius is a fish out of water in the small college town of Meriton, but something keeps pulling him back there. He’s helping out a friend with business advice, nothing more. If he’s interested in Bennet, it’s not serious. Sure, Bennet challenges him in a way no other man has. But they have nothing in common. Right?

Wrong. Their best friends are falling in love, and Bennet and Darius can’t seem to escape each other. Soon they’re sharing climbing ropes and birthday cake, and there’s a spark between them that won’t be denied. But betrayal is around the corner. Darius must swallow his pride and Bennet must drop his prejudices to see the rainbow shining through the storm clouds.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Cash Plays by Cordelia Kingsbridge

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Cash Plays
Author: Cordelia Kingsbridge
Series: Seven of Spades #3
Heroes: Levi/Dominic
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 339 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: June 4, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The Seven of Spades is back with a vengeance—the vigilante serial killer has resumed their murderous crusade, eluding the police at every turn. But a bloodthirsty killer isn’t the only threat facing Sin City. A devious saboteur is wreaking havoc in Las Vegas’s criminal underworld, and the entire city seems to be barreling toward an all-out gang war.

As Detective Levi Abrams is pushed ever closer to his breaking point, his control over his dangerous rage slips further every day. His relationship with PI Dominic Russo should be a source of comfort, but Dominic is secretly locked in his own downward spiral, confronting a nightmare he can’t bear to reveal.

Las Vegas is floundering. Levi and Dominic’s bond is cracking along the seams. And the Seven of Spades is still playing to win. How many bad hands can Levi and Dominic survive before it’s game over?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Edge of Forever by Barbara Elsborg

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Edge of Forever
Author: Barbara Elsorg
Series: N/A
Heroes: Pasha/Levi
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 279 Pages
Publisher: Barbara Elsborg
Release Date: May 31, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When you stand on the edge, you might just find yourself falling.

Teaching Russians how to be cowboys? Levi thinks his father is joking when he tells him that’s what he wants him to do for the next six months. Working in the frozen desolation of southwest Russia he’ll earn enough to buy a new barn for their Montana ranch. But there’s a deeper agenda for sending him to the edge of nowhere. It will stop him sloping off on Saturday nights to gay bars and clubs for threesomes with strangers.

Pasha finally pushes his father too far and is banished to a remote ranch in the middle of a snowy Russian winter. Stripped of all the trappings of his privileged Moscow lifestyle, he has nothing at his disposal but a suitcase of designer clothes and a whole lot of sass. Pasha hates the countryside, hates physical work, hates the cold and hates cows. But de-prived of money, phone, and access to anyone who might help him, he’s screwed and not in a good way.

Levi’s counting down the days till he can return to the States and his Saturday night hook-ups. Then Pasha arrives at the ranch wearing eyeliner, retching every time he walks into a barn, and Levi is amused, irritated—and attracted. After a vicious attack on Pasha throws them into close quarters, both men are forced to re-evaluate not just who the other is, but whether they truly want to return to the lives they left behind.

When you stand on the edge, you just might find yourself falling in love.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Riven by Roan Parrish

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Riven
Author: Roan Parrish
Heroes: Theo & Caleb
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 235 pages
Publisher: Loveswept
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Theo Decker might be the lead singer of Riven, but he hates being a rock star. The paparazzi, the endless tours, being recognized everywhere he goes—it all makes him squirm. The only thing he doesn’t hate is the music. Feeling an audience’s energy as they lose themselves in Riven’s music is a rush unlike anything else . . . until he meets Caleb Blake Whitman. Caleb is rough and damaged, yet his fingers on his guitar are pure poetry. And his hands on Theo? They’re all he can think about. But Caleb’s no groupie—and one night with him won’t be enough.

Just when Caleb is accepting his new life as a loner, Theo Decker slinks into it and turns his world upside-down. Theo’s sexy and brilliant and addictively vulnerable, and all Caleb wants is another hit. And another. That’s how he knows Theo’s trouble. Caleb can’t even handle performing these days. How the hell is he going to survive an affair with a tabloid superstar? But after Caleb sees the man behind the rock star, he begins to wonder if Theo might be his chance at a future he thought he’d lost forever.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: War Paint by Sarah Black War Paint

Reviewed by Ami

Title: War Paint
Author: Sarah Black
Series: States of Love
Heroes: Ben & Eli
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 88 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 25, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: There’s an art to love.

Mural artist Ben has come from Tel Aviv to Atlanta to work on a commission. A successful artist, he’s still lonely and isolated after his family’s rejection. Ben is charmed and surprised when local soldier Eli mistakes him for homeless, and brings him a cup of coffee and a biscuit. This gesture opens the door. Eli is lost, trying to make sense of a future without the Army after a combat injury ends his career.

Art gives them a new language and a path forward. But lost men can reach out, desperate to hang on to anyone close. Is what they find together real, and the kind of love that will last? Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Wash Out by L.A. Witt

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Wash Out
Author: L.A. Witt
Series: Anchor Point #7
Heroes: Logan/Casey
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 265 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: May 21, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Casey Olson has always known he was destined to be a Navy SEAL, and the best day of his life was when he was accepted into training. The worst day was when a snapping bone ended his dream.

After three combat tours in five years, Logan Carter left the Marines and self-destructed. Now he’s sober and, thanks to a forgiving ex with friends in high places, has a promising job as a civilian contractor. All he has to do is stay on the rails and out of a bottle, even when his demons won’t leave him alone.

Logan likes his job, and he really likes the gorgeous man at the next desk. Casey tries not to check Logan out, but who is he kidding? From the start, despite their best efforts, neither man can resist the other. Sizzling chemistry leads to sex so hot they can both almost forget why they’re stuck in this office to begin with.

It would be perfect, except Logan can’t stop reliving wars he’ll never forget and Casey can’t stop grieving the SEAL he’ll never be. And they’ll never have a future together until they can make peace with their pasts.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Psychopaths & Sinners by Jack L. Pyke

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Psychopaths & Sinners
Author: Jack L. Pyke
Series: Don’t #5
Heroes: Gray/Jan/Jack/Martin, Raif/Ash
Genre: MM Thriller
Length: 93,000 words
Publisher: Enspire Publishing
Release Date: May 22, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: “Because us? Psychopaths and sinners… we don’t need fixing, Gray.”

Three bodies, three mutilations, each one with something… unusual inserted into the wounds. The deaths are enough to leave Ash Thomas scrambling around to find someone to trust as the murders hit so close to home and heart.

For Gray Raoul, MI5 director of G-Branch, the deaths offer something else, a fall back into a familiar life where culling serial killers cater to his own darker mindset. But the farther Gray moves away from home, the more he realises serial killer games in the field are nothing compared to who he has locked up back at home. Sometimes walking the fine line between psychopaths and live-in lovers is a far darker game.

For Ash, that might just mean he’s on his own now, facing a killer who has a deadly fascination for pretty young men and dancing Holly Blue butterflies over their skin.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Hardest Thing by James Lear

Guest Reviewed by Emilie

Title: The Hardest Thing
Author: James Lear
Series: Dan Stagg Mystery #1
Heroes: Dan & Jody
Genre: M/M Contemporary Erotica
Length: 261 pages
Publisher: Cleis Press
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Available at: Cleis PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Once a major in the U.S. Army, Dan Stagg fell afoul of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. In his late 30s, tall, and muscular, Dan is prone to violence, always upholding what he views as justice. He’s offered a great deal of money to protect the young male “secretary” of a powerful real estate broker. The vain, shallow—but most of all hot—young man’s idea of protection includes sex. Dan quickly realizes something strange is going on: he’s being used as a shield for a much more sinister operation and must chose between easy money and sex or the ideals that he embodied in the Army. Why should he do the right thing—particularly when the army betrayed him? The Hardest Thing is a sexy gay mystery as only James Lear can write it: filled with lots of gay sexual encounters, romance, sweat, violence, and conspiracy.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Dirty Deeds by S.E. Jakes

Reviewed by Morgan

Title: Dirty Deeds
Author: S.E. Jakes
Narrator: Dorian Bane
Series: Dirty Deeds #1
Heroes: Cillian/Mal
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 2 Hours, 30 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: April 12, 2018
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Two seasoned operatives finally meet their match: each other.

Cillian works for the mysterious Special Branch 20: an organization that runs black ops commissioned by the British government. His specialty is deep undercover assignments with virtually no support. He’s been alone for so long that he no longer knows anything else.

Mal’s also used to being alone. Wanted in several states and even more countries, he’s not allowed in the vicinity of any of his former Navy SEAL teammates. And his current assignment is to track Cillian in order to discover the spook’s endgame. Except he’s no longer sure which one of them is getting played.

Cillian isn’t about to let the mission that’s consumed him for the past several years crumble because an outsider is poking around where he doesn’t belong. But Mal forces his way through Cillian’s defenses—and into his heart—exposing a devastating betrayal that could destroy them both.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment